Marcos Jr. on Dutertes’ Senate bid: It’s a free country

MANILA, Philippines — Former president Rodrigo Duterte and his children are free to seek any electoral post in the coming elections, but the “real situation” will emerge only after the filing of certificates of candidacy in October, President Marcos said yesterday.

Vice President Sara Duterte, who announced her resignation from the Cabinet on June 19, revealed last Tuesday that her father and her brothers Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte and Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte would run for the Senate in next year’s midterm elections.

The Vice President, who quit as Marcos’ education chief, said Sebastian may seek the presidency in 2028. She added that her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, had asked her to run for mayor of Davao City again.

Asked in an ambush interview to react to the Dutertes’ political plans, Marcos replied: “It’s a free country. They’re allowed to do what it is that they want. I really have no reaction to it.”

“Besides, it’s still early. We really won’t know any of these things. We’re talking about 2028. A lot will happen between now and 2028,” he added.

Marcos noted that the “only real situation” would become clear during the filing of certificates of candidacy in October.

“Then we will see really who will run. Who will they align with? What are the parties involved? Which parties are in alliance with which? We will see that in October. So, all of these announcements, well, let’s see if they will push through come October,” the President said.

Marcos also claimed that nothing has changed in the UniTeam, the coalition that carried him and Duterte during the 2022 polls, despite the Vice President’s resignation from the Cabinet.

The President noted that Duterte came to the UniTeam as a candidate of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, but eventually left the party. However, the parties that were aligned with UniTeam in 2022 are still with the coalition, he added.

“That’s why I’m saying, it depends on who she (Duterte) will side with. That will determine whether or not – that will be the biggest change in the UniTeam if Inday Sara leaves UniTeam. That would be the biggest change if ever,” Marcos said.

“But the party has not changed... We’re already in alliance with Lakas. We’re soon to be with NPC (Nationalist People’s Coalition). We are soon to be in alliance with NUP (National Unity Party). We are soon to be in alliance with the Nacionalista, which is basically the same list as what we had during the ‘22 elections,” he added.

“So, the UniTeam is still there. If you look at the structure of the parties that ran together in the last election, that really hasn’t changed.”

In 2021, Duterte announced that she would seek the vice presidency and filed as a substitute candidate for Lakas. Last year, Duterte resigned from the party after her ally, former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was demoted from senior deputy speaker to deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

Earlier this month, Sara said the UniTeam had already served its purpose.

“The UniTeam was a tandem during the 2022 elections. The elections are over, we won and we are grateful to those who supported us,” she told reporters in Davao City on June 12. “We are not candidates anymore.”

Vice President not joking – Bato

For Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, Duterte is not one to joke about three Dutertes gunning for national positions in 2025.

“I know VP Sara. I believed her statement. She will not make a joke when it comes to her brothers. Let us wait for the filing of candidacy,” Dela Rosa said at the Kapihan sa Senado forum yesterday.

The Dutertes would no longer make a mockery of the filing of candidacies, similar to what the elder Duterte did in the 2016 elections, said Dela Rosa, who himself was a placeholder when he filed and then withdrew his bid for president in 2022.

Dela Rosa, a reelectionist, said he is looking forward to joining the campaign of the three Dutertes and Sen. Bong Go, who is also seeking a second term. “It would make the campaign happier,” Dela Rosa said.

Asked if it was “too much” for the Duterte family to field three members in the Senate race, Dela Rosa said that national politics has always been a family affair.

“What’s new?” Dela Rosa said, referring to the proliferation of political dynasties both in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“If others can do it, why not the Dutertes? Why should it be too much for the Dutertes to run for Senate, but not for the Cayetanos, the Villars, the Estradas?” he added.

Dela Rosa said a brewing alliance between the Marcos administration and the “Yellow” or “Pink” forces from the Liberal Party – as revealed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV – is proof that the two camps are threatened by Duterte’s popularity.

“Anybody can form a ticket against the Dutertes. They can talk if they want, nothing can stop them,” Dela Rosa said.

“The Liberal Party will then make itself administration if it unites with Malacañang. It seems they want the Dutertes to be opposition,” he said.

KMP to Marcos Jr.: End Dutertes

Meanwhile, the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said President Marcos should do his best to prevent his predecessor from returning to power if he is genuinely concerned about the country’s welfare.

In a statement, KMP chairman Danilo Arao also said Marcos should renew the Philippines’ membership in the International Criminal Court which is investigating the killings and other alleged human rights abuses perpetrated by the Duterte administration in his so-called war on drugs.

“This development should be a wake-up call to the Marcos administration to end the Dutertes once and for all. For the Filipino people, this is a challenge to strive for genuine social change,” Arao said.

Arao said the country had suffered enough during Duterte’s presidency, adding the former chief executive and his children should not be allowed to occupy national positions.

“We do not want him in any government office now and forever, period,” he said. – Emmanuel Tupas